Cary Ginell - Page 10

For the first time in 22 years, Susan Egan takes to the stage in her pioneering role as Belle in 'Beauty and the Beast.' 5-Star Theatricals' production (July 20-29) is being directed by Yvette Lawrence, who took over the role of Belle after Egan vacated it in Los Angeles over two decades ago. We spoke with both Susan and Yvette in a fun, nostalgic, and warm conversation about the show.

Real-life partners Jennifer Ridgway and Kevin Ellis play perpetual adulterers George and Doris in Bernard Slade's timeless comedy 'Same Time, Next Year' at Oxnard's Elite Theatre Company.

An interview with mental health professionals Erik Sternad and Joelle Vessels of Interface Children & Family Services and Panic! Productions co-executive director Paul Panico about the mental illness displayed in its recent production of 'Next to Normal.'

Claire Adams stars as a young North Carolina woman seeking a miracle - to heal her disfigured face caused by a farm accident from when she was young. Embarking on a Greyhound bus bound for Tulsa just after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was implemented, Violet deals with race, guilt, and shame in her quest to get an Oklahoma faith healer to make her inner and outer scars vanish.

Mazie Rudolph knows where Diana Goodman is coming from in Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey's Pulitzer Prize Winning musical 'Next to Normal.' In this revealing interview, Rudolph and director Fred Helsel talk about mental illness and Mazie's own journey into rediscovering her own traumas from the past.

The newly revamped national tour of 'Let It Be' includes a fantasy 'reunion' of the group on John Lennon's 40th birthday, October 9, 1980, two months before his murder. The group combined note-perfect renditions of two dozen Beatles songs as well as songs from the group members' solo careers during the 1970s in a generally entertaining, nostalgic trip to the glory years of the Fab Four.

Theater League's national tour of 'A Chorus Line' features a stellar cast, fabulous singing and dancing, but above all, the rock solid directing by Baayork Lee, the original Connie, who has ensured that Michael Bennett's original conception from over 40 years ago remains the same as he intended, as if Lee were encasing the show in amber.

Sam Shepard's 1983 black comedy 'True West' comes to life with Elite Theatre Company's searing portrayal of two brothers at war with one another. One is a struggling screenwriter, the other a parasitic bully. When the two clash, their personalities merge until you can't tell one from the other. Aaron Gardner and Sean Mason star in this devastating satire of Hollywood wannabes and a dysfunctional family relationship that runs amuck.

'Kinky Boots' overcomes a formulaic, predictable storyline with energetic performances and Cyndi Lauper's outstanding score. The national tour features outstanding work from its trio of stars: Lance Bordelon as frustrated shoe factory owner Charlie Price, Jos N. Banks as enterprising drag queen Lola, and Sydney Patrick as spitfire factory worker Lauren. The show plays at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza though Sunday, February 25.

Alan Waserman plays Shakespeare super-villain Iago in Playhouse 101's production of 'Othello.'

Cole Porter's 'High Society' sparkles with wit, glamour, and music in Musical Theatre Guild's concert version of the 1998 Broadway musical.

Brian McDonald brilliantly plays multiple roles in the one-man comic fantasy 'Buyer and Cellar,' about serving as shopkeeper in Barbara Streisand's ornate underground personal shopping mall. A tour de force for McDonald and the Rubicon Theater Company.

'Motown: The Musical' is, plain and simply, Berry Gordy's revenge on 'Dreamgirls.' After getting displayed in a negative fashion in that show, Gordy decided to create his own version of his career, painting himself in noble colors.

The recent women's march and #MeToo Movement have suddenly made Alan Ball's comic-serio play 'Five Women Wearing the Same Dress' even more relevant than it was in 1993 when it made its debut. Read about how Brian Robert Harris came to direct the show at the Camarillo Skyway Playhouse.

An interview with director Timothy Reese, who discusses the process of a first read-through of 'Heathers: The Musical' - which opens January 5 at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts in Thousand Oaks.

A talk with the actors who portray the Klingon equivalents of Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present in Lit Live's West Coast premiere of 'A Klingon Christmas Carol,' playing at Santa Susana High School in Simi Valley beginning December 14.

A delightful abridged version of 'Scrooge,' the Leslie Bricusse musical adaptation of 'A Christmas Carol,' is now being staged at the rustic Big Oak Theatre in Chatsworth.

Producer Kaelia Winterstein talks about Lit Live's West Coast premiere of the new play 'A Klingon Christmas Carol,' which makes its debut December 14 at Santa Susana High School in Simi Valley.

Ojai Art Center's production of 'Animal Crackers' features impeccable performances by Sean Mason (Groucho), Daniel Mitchell (Chico) and Anna Kotula (Harpo) as the Marx Brothers. Directed by John Medeiros.

Frantic, broad comedy and an attractive Spanish-flavored score highlight Musical Theatre Guild's recent staged reading of Jeffrey Lane's 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.'